Stocks were pressured early after Macy’s cut its profit forecast following a disappointing holiday shopping season. Macy’s sank 17.7 percent and other retailers also fell.

After recovering, Wall Street again tumbled into negative territory after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell told an afternoon Washington event that the Fed’s large securities holdings should be “substantially smaller” than the current level of just under $4 trillion.

But stocks again recovered after that, extending a rally spurred by dovish comments by Powell last Friday and prolonged by US-China talks that were seen as boosting the odds of a trade agreement.

Among retailers, Target fell 2.9 percent after it reported a 5.7 percent jump in comparable holiday sales but did not boost its profit forecasts.

Other retailers that fell included Best Buy, down 1.6 percent, Gap, down 3.1 percent and Williams-Sonoma, down 2.4 percent. Walmart gained 0.1 percent.

American Airlines shed 4.1 percent as it cut its profit forecast range and some other key financial projections following the key holiday travel season.

Ford fell 0.5 percent after announcing a major restructuring in Europe that will include job cuts and the phasing out of some car models that are not selling well.

Trudeau’s Tory rival pledges balanced budget in 5 years

OTTAWA: Canada’s Conservative leader and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s main rival in upcoming elections pledged Friday to balance the government’s budget within five years, backtracking on a previous target.
An average of several recent polls gives the Tories a six percentage point lead over the Liberals ahead of the October ballot.
Andrew Scheer previously vowed that balancing the budget could be done within two years, but now claims “Trudeau has made an even bigger mess of the budget than I thought possible.
“And he has made the job of cleaning it up that much more difficult,” he said in a speech to the Canadian Club in Vancouver.
Canada’s economy surged after the Liberals took office in 2015 and unleashed a massive stimulus. But growth is forecast to slow this year.
Finance Minister Bill Morneau in his March budget pointed to 900,000 new jobs created since 2015 and the lowest unemployment rate in 40 years.
The government’s fiscal deficit, however, is projected to balloon to Can$19.8 billion (US$14.7 billion) — after Trudeau abandoned his 2015 pledge to run a few small deficits and return to balance this year.
Still, Canada’s debt-to-GDP ratio is lower than its G7 counterparts and is expected to fall over the coming years from the current 30.7 percent.
Scheer said, “even the most optimistic projections don’t have the Liberals balancing the budget for 20 more years.”
“But if Canadians elect a Conservative government this fall, we will balance the budget in about a quarter of that time,” he said.

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Canada unveils air passenger bill of rights

OTTAWA: Airline passengers in Canada will soon be eligible for significant compensation for delayed flights or lost baggage under regulations announced Friday by Transportation Minister Marc Garneau.
The measures follow a rising number of complaints about being stuck on the tarmac for hours, musical instruments being broken in transit and lost baggage.
“Our goal was to provide a world-leading approach to air passenger rights that would be predictable and fair for passengers while ensuring our air carriers remain strong and competitive,” Garneau said.
“These new regulations achieve that balance and will give air travelers the rights and treatment they pay for and deserve.”
Starting July 15, airlines will be required to disembark passengers after three hours on the tarmac if there is no prospect of taking off soon.
They would also need to compensate passengers bumped from overbooked flights up to Can$2,400 (US$1,800) and up to Can$2,100 for lost luggage.
As of December 15, additional measures will require airlines to pay passengers up to Can$1,000 for flight delays and cancellations, provide food, drink and accommodations, and rebook them on new flights — using competing airlines if necessary.
They would also have to seat children near a parent at no extra charge and develop new standards for transporting musical instruments.
The latter was in response to travelling musicians complaining on social media about broken guitars and other instruments during flights.
The rules apply to flights to, from and within Canada.
According to Canada’s government statistics agency, there are an average of 5.5 million take-offs and landings at Canada’s 91 airports each year.
Due to its vast geography, air transportation is crucial for connecting parts of the country. A flight from easternmost to westernmost Canada takes about eight hours.

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BEIJING: Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan’s upcoming visit to Pakistan will further deepen high-level exchanges, friendship and mutual trust between China and Pakistan and advance development of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) besides bilateral cooperation across the board, a Chinese foreign ministry’s spokesperson said on Friday.
“We believe the vice president’s visit will further deepen high-level exchanges, friendship and mutual trust between China and Pakistan and advance the CPEC development and our cooperation across the board,” Lu Kang said while responding to a question of APP regarding the significance of the visit during his daily press briefing held here.
He said the visit would inject a new impetus in a closer community of shared future in a new era for two countries.
The spokesperson said the Chinese vice president would be visiting Pakistan from May 26 to 28 at the invitation of Prime Minister Imran Khan.
“Wang Qishan will be meeting with President Arif Alvi and hold talks with Prime Minister Imran Khan and exchange views on deepening bilateral relations and international and regional issues of mutual interests,” he added.
Lu Kang remarked that China and Pakistan were all-weather strategic cooperative partners and iron friends, adding, “We firmly support each other on issues concerning each other’s foreign interests.”